| History | |
|---|---|
 Great Britain | |
| Name | Sparrow |
| Launched | 1777, Bombay [lower-alpha 1] |
| Fate | Captured and burnt 1796 |
| General characteristics | |
| Tons burthen | 147, [2] or 148, or 150 (bm) |
| Sail plan | Snow |
| Complement |
|
| Armament |
|
| Notes | Teak-built |
Sparrow was built in Bombay in 1777, possibly under another name. Between 1789 and 1798 Sparrow made several voyages as a whaler in the British southern whale fishery. In 1803 she was captured and recaptured. The French Navy captured and burnt her in 1806.
Sparrow first appeared in Lloyd's Register (LR) in 1790. [3]
| Year | Master | Owner | Trade | Source & notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1790 | W.Clark | Hurry | London–Southern Fishery | LR; raised and repairs 1789 |
1st whaling voyage (1789–1791): Captain Welham Clark sailed from England on 8 December 1789. [4] A letter dated 2 March 1790 arrived at Norfolk and reported that Trelawney, Captain Clarke, and Sparrow, of London, Captain Clarke, had been at Santiago, Cape Verde, "all well". [5] Sparrow returned on 11 June 1791. [4]
Between 1791 and 1792 Dowson & Co. owned Sparrow. [6]
2nd whaling voyage (1791–1792): Captain Clark sailed from England on 23 September 1791. Sparrow returned on 11 May 1792. [4]
3rd whaling voyage (1792–1793): Captain Smith sailed from the Downs on 3 September 1792. Sparrow stopped at Cowes and on 19 September sailed from there for the Southern Fishery but with Clark as master. She stopped at Falmouth and sailed from there on 23 September. She gathered seal skins on the Brazil Banks and arrived at Gravesend with 21,000 skins on 16 July 1793, having stopped at Cork on her way back. [4]
4th whaling voyage (1793–1794): Captain Clark sailed from England on 31 December 1793. Sparrow arrived back in England on 7 December 1795 with 13 tuns of sperm oil and 65 tuns of whale oil. [4]
| Year | Master | Owner | Trade | Source & notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1796 | W.Clark Smith | Hurry & Co. | London–Southern Fishery | LR; raised and repairs 1789 |
Sparrow, built in Bombay, was admitted to registry in Great Britain on 15 February 1796. [7]
5th whaling voyage (1796–1797): Captain Magnus Smith sailed from England in 1796, probably in March. Sparrow returned to England on 6 January 1797 with 13 tuns of sperm oil, 65 tuns of whale oil, 57 cwt of whale bone, and 21,000 seal skins. [4]
| Year | Master | Owner | Trade | Source & notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1797 | Smith Mather | Guillaume | London–Southern Fishery | LR; raised and repaired 1795 |
6th whaling voyage (1797–1798): Captain John Mather sailed from England in 1797. Sparrow returned to England on 14 May 1798. [4]
Captain Michael Humble, snr., who replaced Mather, acquired a letter of marque on 31 August 1799.
| Year | Master | Owner | Trade | Source & notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1798 | J.Mather M.Humble | Guillaume | London Southern Fishery | LR; raised 1785 & thorough repair 1798 |
| 1799 | M.Humble | Humble | Liverpool–Demerara Liverpool–Venice | LR; raised 1785 & thorough repair 1798 |
| 1802 | M.Humble Rogerson | Humble | Liverpool–Venice | LR; raised 1785 & thorough repair 1798 |
| 1804 | Fawsett | Humble & Co. | Liverpool–Naples | Register of Shipping; new deck 1798 & new wales and repairs 1802 |
Captain John Fawcett acquired a letter of marque on 31 May 1803. In September 1803 Lloyd's List reported that Sparrow, Fawcett, master, had been taken, retaken by Commerce, M'Leeven, master, and brought into Lerwick. [8] [lower-alpha 2] Sparrow arrived at Liverpool on 23 September.
| Year | Master | Owner | Trade | Source & notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1804 | B.Rogerson R.Weatherly | Humble Holland | Liverpool–Venice Liverpool–Louisiana | LR; raised 1785 & thorough repair 1798 |
Captain Weatherly sailed Sparrow to New Orleans. On her way back to Liverpool Sparrow had to put into Charleston leaky. [9]
| Year | Master | Owner | Trade | Source & notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1805 | Weatherly J.Gilmore | Holland | Liverpool–Louisiana Liverpool–Newfoundland | LR; thorough repair 1798 |
Lloyd's List reported in February 1806 that Sparrow, from Newfoundland to the Mediterranean, was among the vessels that the Rochefort Squadron had captured and burnt. [10] The entry for Sparrow, Gilmore, master, in the Register of Shipping for 1806 carried the annotation "Captured". [11]
The ship that became Mary Ann was built in 1772 in France and the British captured her c. 1778. Her name may have been Ariadne until 1786 when she started to engage in whaling. Next, as Mary Ann, she made one voyage transporting convicts to New South Wales from England. In 1794 the French captured her, but by 1797 she was back in her owners' hands. She then made a slave trading voyage. Next, she became a West Indiaman, trading between London or Liverpool to Demerara. It was on one of those voyages in November 1801 that a French privateer captured her.
The British Royal Navy purchased HMS Shark on the stocks in 1775. She was launched in 1776, and in 1778 converted to a fireship and renamed HMS Salamander. The Navy sold her in 1783. She then became the mercantile Salamander. In the 1780s she was in the northern whale fishery. In 1791 she transported convicts to Australia. She then became a whaling ship in the southern whale fishery for a number of years, before becoming a general transport and then a slave ship. In 1804 the French captured her, but the Royal Navy recaptured her. Although she is last listed in 1811, she does not appear in Lloyd's List (LL) ship arrival and departure (SAD) data after 1804.
William was a merchant vessel built in France in 1770 or 1771. From 1791 she made numerous voyages as a whaler in the southern whale fishery. She also made one voyage in 1793 transporting supplies from England to Australia. She then resumed whaling, continuing until 1809.
Indispensable was a sailing ship built in France and launched in 1791. She was captured in 1793 at the outbreak of the French Revolutionary Wars and thus came into British hands, keeping her name. She performed two voyages for the British East India Company (EIC) between 1793 and 1797. During this period and later she made two voyages transporting convicts to New South Wales. Amongst her notable events were the discovery of Indispensable Strait (1794), the capture of a Spanish vessel (1798), and the rescue of some castaways (1814). She later went on serve as a whaler in the South Seas until autumn 1827. She ceased trading after this last voyage and was broken up by April 1830.
Butterworth was launched in 1778 in France as the highly successful 32-gun privateer Américaine, of Granville. The British Royal Navy captured her early in 1781. She first appeared in a commercial role in 1784 as America, and was renamed in 1785 as Butterworth. She served primarily as a whaler in the Greenland whale fisheries. New owners purchased her in 1789. She underwent a great repair in 1791 that increased her size by almost 20%. She is most famous for her role in the "Butterworth Squadron", which took her and two ship's tenders on an exploration, sealing, otter fur, and whaling voyage to Alaska and the Pacific Coast of North America. She and her consorts are widely credited with being the first European vessels to enter, in 1794, what is now Honolulu harbour. After her return to England in 1795, Butterworth went on three more whaling voyages to the South Pacific, then Africa, and then the South Pacific again. In 1802 she was outward bound on her fourth of these voyage, this to the South Pacific, when she was lost.
Eliza was launched in 1789 in New Brunswick. Between 1791 and 1800 she made six voyages as a whaler. She next made one voyage as a slave ship. She then disappears from online resources.
Lord Hawkesbury was launched in the United States in 1781, probably under another name. She entered Lloyd's Register in 1787. She made six voyages as a whaler. On her second whaling voyage she "the first parcel of ambergris 'by any English whaler'". She was lost on the seventh after a squadron of French naval vessels had captured her. One of her original, British crew succeeded in regaining sufficient control from her prize crew to enable him to run her aground, wrecking her.
Robust was built in France in 1779. The British captured her in 1781 and she was registered at Liverpool in 1783. She first entered Lloyd's Register in 1789 as whaler in the northern whale fishery. Then in December 1788 she left on the first of three voyages as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. On her third voyage as a slave ship Robust captured a French slave ship and recaptured two British slave ships that a French privateer had captured earlier. After her third voyage as a slaver owners shifted her registry to Bristol and she then made two voyages to the southern whale fishery. She returned from the second voyage in 1797 and is last listed in 1798.
Fonthill was a ship built in France in 1781 and was probably taken in prize in 1782. Fonthill sailed as a West Indiaman between 1783 and 1791, then became a whaler southern whale fishery and made four whaling voyages between 1791 and 1799. On her third voyage she took back from Cape Town a Dutch captain whose vessel had been captured bringing in arms and ammunition from Batavia to stir up unrest against the British at the Cape. After refitting, in 1800, Fonthill became a whaler in the northern whale fishery. Fonthill was last listed, with stale data, in 1810, but whose last reported whaling voyage took place in 1806.
Hercules was launched at Georgia in 1771. She appeared in Lloyd's Register in 1778 and became a West Indiaman. Between 1792 and 1796 she made three voyages as a whaler in the Southern Whale Fishery. In 1797 the French captured Hercules as she was on her fourth voyage.
Chesterfield was built in America in 1781, but it is not clear where and under what name. She arrived in England in 1791. Between 1792 and 1798 Chesterfield made three voyages to the southern whale fishery. On the first of these her crew was involved in a sanguinary encounter with the local inhabitants of an island in Torres Strait. Also in 1793, on the first voyage, her captain named the Chesterfield Islands after his vessel, or her namesake. After her whaling voyages new owners sailed her to trade with the Mediterranean. A Spanish privateer captured her in 1805.
Brook Watson was launched in 1796, probably in Holland but possibly in Denmark. She became a prize in 1801 and by 1802 was a whaler in the British Southern Whale Fishery. She made two whaling voyages between 1802 and 1806. She then became a West Indiaman and was last listed in 1809 or 1810.
Hope was built at Liverpool in 1770, though it is not clear under what name. She first appeared in Lloyd's Register (LR) in 1786 as a Greenlandman, a whaler in the British northern whale fishery. From 1789 on she was a whaler in the British southern whale fishery. She then made five whaling voyages to Africa or the South Pacific. On the fifth she captured Haasje; this resulted in a court case over the distribution of prize money. Hope was last listed in 1798.
Barbara was launched in Philadelphia in 1771 and came to England circa 1787. She initially sailed as a West Indiaman, but then between 1788 and 1800 made five complete voyages as a whaler. The Spanish captured her late in 1800 in the Pacific during her sixth whaling voyage.
Resolution was launched at Liverpool in 1776 as the West Indiaman Thomas Hall; she was renamed in 1779. She sailed briefly as a privateer. Then between 1791 and 1804 Revolution made some six voyages as a whaler. On one voyage, in 1793, a French frigate captured her, but Resolution was re-captured. In 1804 a new owner returned her to the West Indies trade. She does not appear to have sailed after early 1805.
Spy was built in France in 1780, almost surely under another name, and taken in prize. The British East India Company (EIC) purchased her in 1781 and used her for almost two years as a fast packet vessel and cruiser based in St Helena. It then sold her and she became a London-based slave ship, making two voyages in the triangular trade carrying enslaved people from West Africa to the West Indies. She then became a whaler, making seven whaling voyages between 1786 and 1795. She was probably wrecked in August 1795 on a voyage as a government transport.
Nimble was built in Folkestone in 1781, possibly under another name. In 1786 Nimble was almost rebuilt and lengthened. Between 1786 and 1798 she made nine voyages as a whaler in the British Southern Whale Fishery. Between 1799 and 1804 she made four voyages from Liverpool as a slave ship. On her first voyage as to gather captives she detained a neutral vessel, an action that resulted in a court case. On her second voyage to gather captives, a French privateer captured her, but the Royal Navy recaptured her. She was sold in 1804 at St Thomas after she had delivered her captives.
Bellisarius was built in South Carolina in 1762 or 1779, possibly under another name. Between 1789 and 1799 she made six complete voyages as a whaler in the British southern whale fishery. Afterwards she sailed as a merchantman. She was last listed in 1809.
Trelawney or Trelawny was a ship launched at Bristol in 1781. Initially she was a West Indiaman. In 1791 she made one voyage as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. She then made one voyage as a whaler in the British southern whale fishery. She was sold to Liverpool and then made two more voyages as an enslaving ship. She was damaged outbound on a fourth enslaving voyage and then disappears from online records.
Several ships have been named Lucy.
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